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2024 Doraemon Film Stays at #2, 1st Haikyu!! Final Film Drops to #3
posted on by Adriana Hazra
The film opened at #1 on March 1. The film sold 538,000 tickets from Friday to Sunday for 655,555,580 yen (about US$4.37 million) in its first weekend.
The new film has a music theme, as Doraemon and friends go on an adventure to meet new buddies, connect to people with music, and save the world from a crisis.
Kouji Kikkawa makes his voice-acting debut as Maestro Vento in the film. (Kikkawa previously narrated the Gifū Dōdō!! Kanetsugu to Keiji anime.) Kanji Ishimaru plays the robot musician Wakner in his first foray in the Doraemon film series. Comedian duo Kagaya (Shō Kaga and Sōya Gaya) guest-star in the film in multiple roles.
Kazuaki Imai (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's New Dinosaur) directed the film. Teruko Utsumi, a writer for the Doraemon television anime, penned the script for the film. The television anime's current cast members reprised their roles for the film.
The film premiered in Japan on February 16 and is also screening in IMAX. Susumu Mitsunaka (first, third Haikyu!! television anime) both directed and wrote the script for the film.
The film sold 1,529,000 tickets and earned 2,230,465,540 yen (about US$14.83 million) in its first three days of screening. The film now has the biggest opening weekend for a film so far this year in Japan, beating Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM anime film's 1,065,983,130 yen opening weekend earnings.
The anime's staff had announced the two films in August 2022. The first film depicts the "fated showdown" between Karasuno High and Nekoma High.
The film opened in Japan on November 3, 2023 ("Godzilla Day"), which was the anniversary of the first Godzilla film's November 3, 1954 release. The new film screened at The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) as the closing film of last year's event on November 1.
The film sold 648,600 tickets for 1,041,193,460 yen (about US$6.93 million) in its first three days in the Japanese box office. The film sold 14.7% more tickets and earned 22.8% more in its first three days than the last live-action Japanese Godzilla film, Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi's Shin Godzilla, did in its first three days in 2016. The film has earned over 6.01 billion yen (about US$39.9 million) and sold 3.92 million tickets as of March 3, its 122nd day of screening in Japan. According to Kōgyō Tsūshinsha, the film is now the #1 live-action film released in Japan in 2023 (this includes all live-action films that opened in Japan in 2023, but still earned revenue in 2024).
Godzilla Minus One also won the Best Visual Effects award in the 96th Academy Awards on March 10. It is the first Japanese film to win in this category, and the first Godzilla film to be nominated for an Oscar.
Ryubi Miyase (live-action Ushijima the Loan Shark, Ya Boy Kongming!) stars as Akira Ohmi, while Nanoka Hara (Suzume's title heroine, live-action Wave, Listen to Me!, Don't Call It Mystery) stars as Eriko Ichimura. The two had previously co-starred in the live-action television series Night Doctor and Murai in Love.
Idol group NiziU performs the theme song "SWEET NONFICTION" and also play students in the film.
Miki Kōichirō (live-action 2020 Yowamushi Pedal) directed the film, with scripts by Satoko Okazaki.
Fujimomo launched the manga in Kodansha's Dessert magazine in July 2015, and ended it in May 2020. The manga was nominated for Best Shōjo Manga in the 42nd Kodansha Manga Awards in 2018.
The film opened in July 2023, and sold 1.003 million tickets and earned about US$13.2 million in its first three days in Japan. The film sold 1.353 million tickets and earned 2.149 billion yen (about US$15.53 million) in its Friday-Monday long weekend (July 17 was the Marine Day holiday in Japan).
The film won Animation of the Year in the 47th annual Japan Academy Film Prizes and won the Best Motion Picture - Animated category at the 81st Golden Globes Awards earlier this year. The film also won awards from the Annie Awards (for storyboarding and character animation) and the British Academy Film Awards (for animated film). The Alliance of Women Film Journalists gave it the Best Animated Film award in its EDA Awards on December 31. The 78th Mainichi Film Awards announced ahead of its February 14 ceremony that the film would receive the Noburou Oofuji Award, which honors animated works that offer new forms of creative expression.
The film is screening in 353 cinemas in Japan, and added 4DX, MX4D, and Dolby Cinema screenings starting on February 9.
The film opened at #1 in the Japanese box office, selling 634,182 tickets for 1,065,983,130 yen (about US$7.20 million) in its first three days, marking the Gundam franchise's highest three-day opening in box office earnings. Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM opened in Japan on January 26. The film is planned to screen in 56 countries and territories.
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed director Mitsuo Fukuda directed the film at Bandai Namco Filmworks. Fukuda also co-wrote the script along with his late wife Chiaki Morosawa and Liu Goto. Hisashi Hirai (Mobile Suit Gundam Seed) designed the characters.
Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), comScore via KOFIC
